Conventional time domain multiple access (TDMA) satellite communication networks employ multiple radio stations which communicate through an earth satellite repeater by transmitting time-synchronized bursts of radio energy relative to the repeater and which receive a time multiplex composite of bursts containing corresponding modulated information from the repeater. In TDMA operations, multiple ground stations associated with radio signaling nodes transmit bursts of time concentrated information signals on a shared carrier frequency spectrum and receive the same information signals after repetition by the satellite repeater on a shifted carrier frequency spectrum. Each ground station is assigned a particular time slot in a continuum of recurrent frames for transmission of its bursts and for the reception of its own bursts and the bursts of other stations. The bursts interleave at the satellite in close time formation without overlapping.
In prior art demand assignment operation, the length of the assigned slots may be varied in accordance with the relative distribution of demand at the various ground station signaling nodes. Prior art demand assignment techniques have been found to require excessive amounts of time to carry out the transition from a first set of channel assignments to a second set of channel assignments. The additional time required for prior art demand assignment techniques to carry out a shift in channel assignments imposes a higher probability that new calls may be blocked during the reassignment period.